Day walks Soutpansberg mountain

Apart from our own three short circle routes at Madi a Thavha, hiking through local villages can be arranged for those who like to experience culture in a more inter-active mode.

Boabab circle route at Madi a Thavha

The one-and-a-half-hour circular Baobab-route up the mountain is quite popular. Our local Boabab expert, dr Sarah Venter measured the girth of this Boabab tree at 11.4m. Sarah says,”due to its tallness and position on the southern side of the mountain where it would get more rain than the Boabab’s more natural habitat north of the mountain, I estimate it is between 500 and 600 years old. I was not surprised to see the archaeological site next to this tree, it is common for outlying trees like this one, to be associated with human habitation. It looks as though it was used for a ‘khoro’, the traditional meeting place of a Venda Chief with his headmen, for the more recent occupants of the site.”

Solid Baobab background

Baby baobab fruit the seed makes oil

On the Boabab walk at Madi a Thavha

Part of Vhembe Biosphere reserve

Madi a Thavha, like all the reserves and farms in and around the Soutpansberg forms part of the UNESCO acclaimed Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, an area covering 90 000 hectares of extraordinary bio- and cultural diversity. Hiking in the Soutpansberg region offers a variety of wet and bushveld-type vegetation leading through forests, archaeological sites, mountain streams, waterfalls with great birding possibilities on our, and other trails – like groups of crested guinea fowl is quite a common sight at Madi a Thavha.

The Soutpansberg mountain range contains some of the Earth’s oldest red-bed rocks, indicating that they are thousands of millions of years old. The resistant sandstones of this, the Makgabeng and the Blouberg give rise to spectacular scenery in the province, known since ancient times as the “wall beyond the world”.

On the northern side of the Soutpansberg is arid Boabab-tree country whilst on the higher parts of the mountain one can find patches of fynbos. The Vhembe region boasts 30% of South Africa’s tree species, even though it covers barely 0.5% of our country’s surface area. Being home to 60% of South Africa’s birds, 40% of its mammals and 30% of its reptile species and a staggering 70% of the world’s spiders, the Soutpansberg is a region of national and international conservation importance as a high number of plant and wildlife species are found only here and nowhere else on the planet.

On one of the viewpoints of the Hanglip route

Glorious Soutpansberg

Hike up the mountain at Madi a Thavha mountain lodge

Magnificent wild Figs grace the gardens of Madi a Thavha

Coral tree flowering time introduce summer in all its glory

Rock Figs make excellent ladders

Wide views over the ‘vlaktes’ south of the Soutpansberg

National hiking trails in Soutpansberg

The national hiking trails in our region are mainly on the wetter, ‘rain-foresty’ southern slopes of the Soutpansberg which includes Hanglip close to and accessible via Makhado/Louis Trichardt and a few circular routes around Entabeni, about 50km east of Madi a Thavha, along the R525 to Thohoyandou. As the routes are not always maintained throughout the year round, it is highly advisable to first inquire about conditions on these trails at Department Forestry’s Komatiland eco tourism,

The myths and legends of the people of the North are woven into the mist-shrouded peaks and crags of these beautiful mountains

For those explorers among us: the trees, the plants and animals, many endemic to the region, ancient ruins of a people long gone, a staggering legacy of rock engravings to mark the passage of the San hunters and gatherers many centuries before, all combine to create a fascinating insight into our area and its people.

Rates for guided day walks in the Soutpansberg Mountains. It is also possible to do any of these walks without a tour guide – inquiring in advance about national trails is advised.